COLUMN: Aggies need to finish strong
When we sent off the 2011 senior class of players from their final home game, it was still February.
At this point in the season, I feel it would be safe to say that it has indeed been a great season, but the things that truly make a season take the step from greatness to a thing of legend are the things that happen in March.
I don’t think I speak alone when I say that I would love for this regular season to be wrapped up with one of the final two victories coming on the road against New Mexico State. If Utah State vs. Nevada is an example of a respectful and peaceful rivalry, then the opposite end of the spectrum of hostility is Utah State vs. New Mexico State.
Maybe this is due partly to the fact that NMSU is the only Western Athletic Conference school that hasn’t been entirely dominated by Utah State since the current WAC came to fruition in 2005, but for me, and I’m sure plenty of others, the hatred toward the red Aggies of the WAC is due to a complete lack of respect for how they operate their program.
Either way, it is a game that is automatically one of the biggest of the year for each school, which automatically qualifies it as a rivalry. And when schools start busting out the gimmick promotions for those games, like New Mexico State’s idea of having a pajama party for Wednesday’s game against USU, you know they are dying to get the house packed and rocking against the four-time WAC champs.
This is the kind of rivalry where the majority of fans want nothing but the worst to happen to each team throughout the course of a season. It’s fueled by hate, and there’s a certain unique passion that comes from hate. It makes every win over that team that much more enjoyable, and every loss that much more agonizing.
Now, keep in mind that this is all within the context of sports, and nothing else, but it definitely intensifies things. It intensifies it in the way that any win against the other usually holds major implications for regular season standings, or is a do-or-die game in the WAC tournament.
The differing levels of animosity toward a program are the reason why if Utah State were to lose to a more respectable program like Nevada, I generally won’t lose sleep over it. I can’t say the same for New Mexico State. It’s two different animals.
Hate aside though, what’s really important is that Utah State finish off this regular season with a bang, and to do that, they have to go through one of those teams that everybody seems to hate.
The Aggies are in prime position to land the highest seed in the NCAA tournament that head coach Stew Morrill has ever had in his time at USU, if they can just win their next four games. If that happens, that NCAA Tournament monkey that has been hanging on the Aggies’ back since 2001 might finally be shaken loose. Granted, NCAA Tournament wins for teams in USU’s position are, and always have been rare, but Utah State has worked its way to the fringe of transcending the mid-major label. In order to work past that fringe, winning in the big dance has to happen a bit more. And what better an opportunity than with the best senior class in school history?
The calendar has officially turned to March. The first of the madness can been seen on ESPN2 when Utah State faces off with its most hated conference rival, then it’s off to the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas and hopefully off to achieve NCAA Tournament glory after that.
In other words, let the madness begin!
Matt Sonnenberg is a senior majoring in print journalism. Matt is an avid fan of Aggie athletics and can be found on the front row of every home football and basketball game. He can also be reached at matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu.